This version of the NFL Draft has been called “the most important” ever for the Cleveland Browns.
Ahem.
Tell the 2012 NFL Draft to get in line. Because every Browns draft since 1999 has been “the most important.”
Because the Browns have averaged only five wins per year since ‘99, every draft was the one that would change the results.
The only changes were the guys making the promises -- Dwight Clark, Butch Davis, Phil Savage, Eric Mangini and, now, Tom Heckert. All had visions of how to build a team, and all tried in the best way they knew how, but it’s now down to Heckert.
Every draft mattered. Every pick was scrutinized, studied and sifted through every imaginable strainer.
The litany of failure and struggle is lengthy.
First came the initial years, when the Browns had to build a team and drafted quarterback Tim Couch first but then forgot the team around him.
Then came the second year, when the Browns had to choose between a dynamic playmaker in Lavar Arrington or a defensive end in Courtney Brown. The Browns chose the position. Arrington had an very good career; Brown broke down.
So did the Browns.
Or 2001, when Butch Davis overruled his scouting and personnel staffs and left Richard Seymour for New England so Davis could take Gerard Warren.
Davis took running back James Jackson in the third round in ‘01, then took William Green at the same position in the first round of the next draft (and passed up Ed Reed and Clinton Portis).
In the third round in ‘02, the Browns took center Melvin Fowler, then took Jeff Faine in the first round the next year. In the second round, they selected the immortal Chaun Thompson, and in the fifth, they took a long snapper, Ryan Pontbriand.
Kellen Winslow was the first round choice in 2004. He played some good football but was traded to Tampa Bay. Braylon Edwards was sent packing after he punched a friend of LeBron James (this stuff cannot be made up). Kamerion Wimbley . . . Brady Quinn . . . the list goes on and on.
All were taken by regimes who all promised the same thing the Browns now promise — to turn the team around, to build a winner, to go through “the process.”
Except, every time one of the regimes changed, the new folks decided the guys the old folks picked were not worthy. That led to the the group now in charge trading two first-round picks on the same day: Quinn and Wimbley.
But this regime was not the only one to get rid of guys drafted before they arrived.
Mangini got rid of Savage’s guys, Savage got rid of Davis’ guys, Davis got rid of Clark’s guys.
Change led to more change.
Not surprisingly, wins never followed.
This year, the Browns' search seems to be taking them toward running back Trent Richardson with the fourth pick. The 22nd and 37th overall picks will be interesting. Heckert said he definitely expects his top three or four picks to start. Which is a start.
Since 1999, Cleveland has constantly picked, constantly promised and constantly failed where it matters most, winning two, three, seven, nine, five, four, six, four, 10, four, five, five and four games.
That’s a total of 68 wins in 13 seasons, an average of five per season.
And the team wonders why fans are impatient.
The importance of the draft to the fan base measures the Browns' depth of struggle. A fan base that annually looks forward to the draft is a fan base that is suffering. Perspective (again) lies just down the turnpike, where GM Kevin Colbert said the Steelers judge a draft by one measure: Super Bowls won.
The past five years, Pittsburgh has been to the playoffs four times and the Super Bowl twice, winning one title.
Since Colbert took over as Steelers GM in 2000, the Steelers have not missed on a first-round pick. Yes. they’ve had shaky second- and third-round picks, but every first-rounder has contributed — and many are still.
The Browns are still searching.
The most important draft ever? For the Browns, every draft is the most important.
Until they win.
